Question for relaxed ladies

[Sepia_Rose]

For the ladies on the board who are relaxed and use organic/natural products like Giovanni and Aubrey Organics, have you had improvement in the health and/or strength of your hair?

I'm one of the luckier people who's hair does grow fast but I suffer from that one step forward two steps back thing since I have fine hair that's prone to breakage. I was wondering if switching to an SLS free shampoo and natural conditioner would help. How has your experience been with natural products? I've seen a lot of women say that it's drying for them so I was hoping for some feedback like the products you used and how it helped or hurt your hair. Thanks!

 

[ajoyfuljoy]

I haven't used an SLS-based shampoo for over 1.5 years and I can say that doing that (along with a couple of other things) has totally changed my hair for the better.

Some relaxed/natural heads swear by SLS-free shampoo and others don't care so much. I use Giovanni shampoo right now but I have no problem trying something else as long as it is SLS-free.

It really depends on you but for me it has made a big difference

I don't use natural condishes but I try to stay away from mineral oil or at least make sure it isn't one of the top 5 products. For others it isn't a big deal and many healthy heads use condish with mineral oil as the second ingredient. It is more of a personal preference but I'd say that condish w/o cheapo mineral oil in it is of a higher quality.

 

[Sepia_Rose]

Thank you ajoyfuljoy! I'm considering going with either Kenra (I knew I should've gone ahead and bought some when it was on sale at Trade Secret last month) or Giovanni to see if my hair thrives without the SLS or parabens ect. in regular poos and conditioners. I've been a Redken head since forever but nothing seems to completely stop the breakage.

I'ma have to start calling you Auntie, you look so much like my aunt it's scary.

 

[Dposh167]

using natural products has helped...but was it the complete answer to my hair being healthier..absolutely not. i still incorporate non natural products in my regimen and its doing fine. If anything...the natural products dont weigh my hair down, they make it softer, and i have way less buildup in between washes when i use them. but i learned that just bc they are natural..it doesnt mean the product will agree with ur hair. imo, aubrey poos are boot!!..and their conditioners i like better for dry hair as moisturizers. Giovanni an aveda are the only lines that typically get the job done

 

[prospurr4]

For the ladies on the board who are relaxed and use organic/natural products like Giovanni and Aubrey Organics, have you had improvement in the health and/or strength of your hair?

I'm one of the luckier people who's hair does grow fast but I suffer from that one step forward two steps back thing since I have fine hair that's prone to breakage. I was wondering if switching to an SLS free shampoo and natural conditioner would help. How has your experience been with natural products? I've seen a lot of women say that it's drying for them so I was hoping for some feedback like the products you used and how it helped or hurt your hair. Thanks!

I don't think my hair cares whether I use natural products or not. The only natural product I use (aside from oils) is Giovanni Direct Leave-in. Most (if not all) of my staples are inexpensive and can easily be found at Wal-mart or Sally's. As long as I moisturize my hair once or twice per day, with a little oil and water, I don't have any problems with breakage. I even use an SLS shampoo, Motions Lavish; I just dilute it with a little water, and I'm fine.

Maybe the problem that you're having with breakage can be traced back to something else in your regimen...like how often do you use heat, how often do you DC and/or moisturize your hair, how do you style your hair, for example?

 

[Sepia_Rose]

I don't think my hair cares whether I use natural products or not. The only natural product I use (aside from oils) is Giovanni Direct Leave-in. Most (if not all) of my staples are inexpensive and can easily be found at Wal-mart or Sally's. As long as I moisturize my hair once or twice per day, with a little oil and water, I don't have any problems with breakage. I even use an SLS shampoo, Motions Lavish; I just dilute it with a little water, and I'm fine.

Maybe the problem that you're having with breakage can be traced back to something else in your regimen...like how often do you use heat, how often do you DC and/or moisturize your hair, how do you style your hair, for example?

Well my regime is to wash with poo and condition once a week with Redken all Soft. I ususally mix Tea Tree and avocado oil into the poo. I co-wash and deep condition once a week with All Soft Heavy cream and moisturize about every other day with extra virgin coconut oil. Usually I just wear my hair in a bun or up in a claw clip or a braided bun. I do aphogee 2 min reconstructor about twice a month and the heavy duty 2 step basically whenever it looks like I need it. I do use megatek about twice a week just on the roots so maybe that's too much protein?

 

[prospurr4]

Well my regime is to wash with poo and condition once a week with Redken all Soft. I ususally mix Tea Tree and avocado oil into the poo. I co-wash and deep condition once a week with All Soft Heavy cream and moisturize about every other day with extra virgin coconut oil. Usually I just wear my hair in a bun or up in a claw clip or a braided bun. I do aphogee 2 min reconstructor about twice a month and the heavy duty 2 step basically whenever it looks like I need it. I do use megatek about twice a week just on the roots so maybe that's too much protein?

Concerning the bolded, I agree that the problem could be too much protein...I know my hair couldn't take that much before going into protein overload. I would back off the aphogee treatments for a while and replace them with moisturizing DCs. Hope this helps with the breakage.

 

[chebaby]

i am relaxec and i use a lot of natural and natual based products. my hair is so healthy. i use ojon, paul mmitchell(his products arent all natural but have a lot of extract my hair seems to love), i also use hairveda products, shescentit products and am going to try hydratherma products. my hair feels so much better now that i have stopped using products with no natural ingre. i really love coconut oil and shea butter.

 

[*Muffin*]

For the ladies on the board who are relaxed and use organic/natural products like Giovanni and Aubrey Organics, have you had improvement in the health and/or strength of your hair?

I'm one of the luckier people who's hair does grow fast but I suffer from that one step forward two steps back thing since I have fine hair that's prone to breakage. I was wondering if switching to an SLS free shampoo and natural conditioner would help. How has your experience been with natural products? I've seen a lot of women say that it's drying for them so I was hoping for some feedback like the products you used and how it helped or hurt your hair. Thanks!

Most definitely . I love AO and Giovanni Direct. Ever since I stopped using products that have sulfates, glycols, parabens, mineral oil, and other unnatural ingredients I've noticed my hair has improved in it's elasticity. My hair used to not do the stretch and snap thing, but now it does. My strands will actually stretch for a period of time and then make a snapping sound when I do a protein/moisture balance test (telling me that my hair's moisture/protein balance is where it should be). Pretty much the only unnatural thing I put in my hair is a relaxer every three to four months, and I've noticed a definite improvement. Check out your nearest health food supermarket. They will most likely carry a wide variety shampoos & conditioners with natural ingredients in them.

 

[explosiva9]

I have seen a dramatic difference in my hair. I have a 90% ayurvedic regimen and I use mostly natural products. My hair is thriving. I use to suffer from so much breakage. Now it's mostly shedding but relatively less than before. In my opinion, natural/ayurveda is the way to go!!

 

[MonPetite]

Relaxed and natural I used products full of cones to all natural (if I can't eat it I don't use it) regimens and BOTH worked well.

I think it comes down to what your hair likes for the state it is in. The only thing that changed for me from relaxed, to texlaxed, to natural was STYLING products...but poo, conditioner, deep conditioner didn't really, REALLY need an overhaul.

I DO use SLS-free poos though for the last three months I used ALS and SLS poos for the purposes of doing reviews and nothing bad happened. I used them DAILY, BTW with no adverse effects.

Not recommending it, just throwing in a bit of my own experience. HHG!

 

[TexturedTresses]

Well my regime is to wash with poo and condition once a week with Redken all Soft. I ususally mix Tea Tree and avocado oil into the poo. I co-wash and deep condition once a week with All Soft Heavy cream and moisturize about every other day with extra virgin coconut oil. Usually I just wear my hair in a bun or up in a claw clip or a braided bun. I do aphogee 2 min reconstructor about twice a month and the heavy duty 2 step basically whenever it looks like I need it. I do use megatek about twice a week just on the roots so maybe that's too much protein?

Aside from slowing down on the protein, you might want to think about using a different moisturizer. Maybe something with water, glycerin or panthenol.